Article handling apparatus



De c. 15, 1942. E. A. WILCKENS ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS 8 Sheets-Sheetl Filed June 8, 1958 Dec. 15,1942.

ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS E. A. WILCKENS 2,304,982

Filed June 8, 1958 I 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 E III Dec. 15, 1942. E. A.WILCKENS ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS Filed June 8, 1938 8 Sheets-Sheet 3mm 3W Dec. 15, 1942. w cK s 2,304,982

ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS Filed June 8, 1958 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 ,1 E. A.WILCKENS 2,304,982

ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS Filed June 8, 1938 8 Sheets-Sheet 5 Dec. 15,1942.

E. A. WILCKENS ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS Filed June 8, 1958 8Sheets-Shee t 6 Dec. 15, 1942. E. A. WILCKENS 2,304,932

ARTICLE HANDLING APPARATUS Fiie d June 8, 1938 a Sheets-Sheet '7 3359.77M75. ZdLLcEz/LL gnaw TM I E. A. WILCKENS ARTICLE HANDLING APR NRATUSFiled June 8, 1938 8 Sheets-Sheet 8 Patented Dec. 15 1942 ARTICLEHANDLING APPARATUS Elbe A. Wilckens, Baltimore, Md., assignor to CrownCork 8: Seal Company, Inc., Baltimore, Md., a corporation of New YorkApplication June 8, 1938, Serial No. 212,573

9 Claims.

The present invention relates to an article handling apparatus and, moreparticularly, to an article handling apparatus including mechanisms todirect a counted number of articles to a shipping receptacle, theapparatus also including a mechanism to insure that a loose mass ofarticles is properly settled within the shipping receptacle.

In the manufacture of numerous types of articles, it is desirable that apredetermined number of articles be packed in each shipping receptacle,and also that the articles be counted automatically as they move to thereceptacle. In the packing of a number of small, light articles,it islikewise desirable that the articles be firmly settled in thereceptacles so that the latter need be no larger than its ratedcapacity, thereby avoiding having articles in a loose condition in thereceptacle and also reducing unnecessary cost in receptacles.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an apparatuswhich will fulfill the above requirements; that is, will automaticallydirect the proper number of articles to a shipping or packingreceptacle, the apparatus also being so constructed that articles may befirmly settled in the receptacles.

While the invention is applicable to the handling of numerous types ofarticles, in the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, theapparatus is illustrated as handling container caps of the crown typeand, for convenience, in

' is so arranged that it will place the proper numthe description of theapparatus, the articles handled are referred to as caps.

Referring specifically to the use of the present apparatus and itsvarious mechanisms for handling caps, machines of the same general typehave previously been provided but have not been entirely satisfactory,For example, in the earlier machines, the caps were delivered to thecounting mechanism without being adequately held just prior to andduring the counting operation. As a result, caps were badly marred bybeing struck by impelling devices and the counting operation was nothighly accurate, the latter difliculty being primarily due to the factthat the caps were sufilciently free to move past the counting memberwithout entirely actuating the latter. Another deficiency of the priormachines was their slow response to the counting mechanism. That is tosay, when a given count had been made and the machine therefore shouldhave diverted the flow of caps from the filled shipping receptacle to asecond and empty receptacle, there was a marked time lag between her ofcaps in each receptacle.

Another object of the invention is to provide a counting mechanism andfeeding means associated therewith which will firmly hold or grip thearticles while the latter are moving through the counting mechanism,thereby insuring that each article will be counted. The invention alsoincludes means to firmly hold the articles while moving them to thecounting mechanism, thereby preventing articles, such as caps. frombecoming marred by the conveying means.

Another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism forperiodically shaking or vibrating shipping receptacles so that articlesbeing placed therein will be firmly settled.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a mechanism forpositioning a mass of articles in single line formation and with eacharticle in the desired bodily position for movement through a countingmeans or other means which is to perform an operation upon the articles.

Machines have heretofore been constructed and used for the abovepurpose, such machines including a hopper or casing and a rotary drum.When a mass of articles was delivered to the rotary drum, the articleswould be moved by centrifugal force to the outer edge of the drum andthence moved, byfrictlonal contact with the surface of the drum, to anoutlet through which they moved in single line formation and with thearticles lying horizontal. The present mechanism is an improvement overmechanisms of the prior type in that the movement of the ar- Otherobjects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thefollowing specification and drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the apparatus of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a view diagrammatically showing the electrical circuitsincluded in the apparatus;

Figure 3 is a side elevation partly in vertical section, of theapparatus;

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view of the article positioningmechanism used with the apparatus, the view being on the angled line 4-4of Fig re 3;

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 6-8 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a horizontal sectional view on the line of Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a side elevation showing the mounting of a tensioning rollprovided on the conveyor included in the apparatus;

Figure 9 is a view in side elevation of the tensioni'ng roll of Figure8, the view being at right angles to that of Figure 8 and showing theconveyor chute in transverse section;

Figure 10 is a view showing the upper end of the conveyor of theinvention in plan, and showing the registering and delivery controlmechanisms in horizontal section;

Figure 11 is a view of the registering and delivery control mechanisms,the view being partly in elevation, and partly in vertical section;

Figure 12 is a horizontal sectional view on the line |2-|2 of Figure 11;

Figure 13 is a detail view in vertical section on the line |3|3 ofFigure 17;

Figure 14 is a detail vertical sectional view on the line |4-|4 ofFigure 1'1;

Figure 15 is a transverse vertical sectional view on the line |5|5 ofFigure 10;

Figs. 15a, 15b and 15c are detail views showing various positions ofcontact members associated with the registering mechanism;

Figure 16 is a vertical sectional view on the line |6|8 of Figure 11;

Figure 17 is a horizontal sectional view through the delivery controlmechanism, the view being on the line of Figure 16;

Figure 18 is a transverse vertical sectional view on the line |8-|8 ofFigure 1'7;

Figure 19 is a side elevation of the shaking mechanism, showing oneplatform in vertical sec tion;

Figure 20 is a central vertical sectional view of the actuating cylinderincluded in the shaking mechanism;

Figure 21 is a detail view of the device illustrated in Figure 20, theview being on the line 2|2| of Figure 20; and

Figure 22 is a vertical sectional view through a selector valve usedwith the shaking mechanism.

The construction and operation of the present apparatus may be generallydescribed as follows:

Referring to Figures 1 and 3, the numeral 23 designates a mechanismadapted to position a mass of caps or other articles in a line, and alsoto position each cap in a predetermined plane, the mechanism comprisinga stationary hopper having a rotary drum 3| mounted therein. Caps to becounted and packed by the apparatus of the invention are delivered tothe hopper 33 through a chute 32 to fall upon the rapidly rotat-1 g d Te rota ion of drum 3| will cause the caps to move oi the drum and intothe space between the inner surface of the wall of hopper 30 and theperiphery of drum 3| where they will stand on edge in a vertical planeand will move around with the rotating drum. A positive impelling actionwill be given the caps, because of the fact that the upper corner edgesof horizontally extending lugs on the lower edge of the drum will engagethe ribbed periphery of the caps. 'As best shown in Figures 5 and 6,articles moving about in the hopper 33 in the abovedescribed positionwill be stripped from the drum 3| by a blade member 33, the impetusgiven the caps by the rapid rotation of drum 3| causing them to movealong the blade member and into a chute 34. The outer end of chute 34Joins the lower end of a conveyor 35 along which moves one run of anendless belt or band 38. Caps entering the conveyor 35 from the chute 34will be engaged by the belt 36 as best shown in Figure 9 and will bemoved up' the conveyor 35 at relatively high speed. As indicated inFigures 11 and 16, the upper end of conveyor 35 terminates adjacent acounting or article contacting wheel 31 and caps or other articlesmoving up the conveyor 35 will be moved into engagement with and beneaththis wheel. The periphery of wheel 31 is provided with a plurality ofpockets of such conformation as to engage the periphery 01' a cap orother article moving beneath the same, and since the articles are stillpositively engaged by the moving element of conveyor 35. wheel 3' willbe rotated to thereby drive the counting mechanism 38 01' which it iormsa part The counting mechanism 38 is provided with a group of cam discscomprising a cam structure 33 which control electrical circuitsconnected to a seletor mechanism generally indicated by the numeral 40(Figures 1, 10 and 16) and including a pivoted article guiding plate orelement 4 I. The cam structure 39 also controls electrical circuitsconnected to packing receptacle shaking mechanisms 42 (Figures 1 and19). The cam structure 39, by its rotation resulting from connectionwith the counting wheel 31, will, when a predetermined number of capshave moved beneath the wheel 31, cause the selector mechanism 43 to beactuated to change the position of the guide plate 4|. As best shown inFigure 10, guide plate 4| is pivotally mounted in a chute 43 opening totwo delivery spouts 44 and 45 respectively, and the position of theguide plate in the chute controls the movement of caps to one spout orthe other. In use, a shipping receptacle for the caps or other articlesbeing handled will be positioned beneath each of the spouts and thecounting mechanism 38 will cause a proper number of caps to move throughone of the spouts and into the receptacle beneath the same and will thenswing the guide plate 4| to cause succeeding caps to be moved throughthe other spout and into the receptacle beneath the same. The packingreceptacles are supported upon pivotally mounted platforms generallyindicated by the numeral 45, and the cam discs 39 of the registeringmechanisnl 33 may be set to control an electrical circuit and therebycause these platforms to be shaken at predetermined intervals during thefeed of caps thereto so that the caps will be settled-in the box beingfilled.- The oscillation or shaking of a platform 45 is effected by apneumatically actuated piston 41 reciprocably mounted in a cylinder 48associated with that platform, the selector mechanism 40 including meansto cause shaking of only one platform 48, namely, the platform whichcarries the packing receptacle to. which caps are at that moment beingdelivered.

The article positioning) means As best shown in Figure 3, the articleposi-- tioning means has the hopper 38 thereof fixed to a support orbase frame 58 in which is mounted a motor motor 5| being secured to abase plate 52 having one end pivoted to the support 58 as indicated at54. The other end of the base plate 52 bears upon a large set screw 55threaded in the support 58. By adjustment of the set secrew 55, theposition of the motor and its shaft 58 with respect to the support 58and also with respect to a'pulley 51 driven from the motor 5| by a belt58 can be adjusted and, in this Way, the tension of the belt 58 can becontrolled.

As best shown in Figures 3 and 4, shaft 59 is journaled to extendhorizontally of the support 58 and has a bevel gear 88 fixed theretowhich mesheswith a bevel gear 8| fixed to one end of a horizontal shaft82 also journaled in the support 58, the inner end of shaft '52 driving,through suitable bevel gearing 83, an upright circumferential surface ispositioned opposite the roller 13 to assist in guiding the caps from thechute 34 to the guideways of the conveyor 35. As illustrated in Figure4, the rolls 13 and 18 are geared together and driven from shaft 59.

As best shown in Figure 3, the conveyor 35 is supported on an arm 18extending-upwardly and outwardly from the article positioning mechanism38 and the upper and lower guideways 14 and 15 of the conveyor aresuitably spaced by brackets adjacent each end thereof. The guideways 14and 15 are U-shaped in cross section as best shown in Figure 9 so thatthe caps will have their upper and lower edges within the opposedtroughs thus provided. In order to hold the Y inner run of the belt 38in contact with the caps throughout the length of the run, idler tensionrolls 88 are spacedalong the conveyor 35, each roll 88 being mounted ona vertical stud 8| (Figures 8 and 9) having its lower end journalled onshaft 84 having its upper end extending into the hopper 38. The rotarydrum 3| is carried by the upper end of the shaft 84, drum 3| including adepending skirt portion extending substantially parallel to the innerwall of the hopper 38, but separated from the inner wall by a distancesuificient to permit the articles to be handled to fall into the spacethus provided. In the use of the machine with container caps of thecrown type, the skirt 55 would be spaced from the inner wall of thehopper 38 a distance substantially corresponding to the thickness of acap, as indicated in Figure 6. The lower edge of the skirt is alsoprovided with outwardly projecting lugs or teeth 88 to support the caps,the teeth being spaced sufficiently to permit dirt or foreign matter tofall out of the machine through apertures 81 in the lower wall of thehopper 38 and illustrated in Figure 3.

The rotation of the drum 3| at relatively high speed will cause the topcorner edges of the teeth 55 to contact with the ribs on the cap skirtsto drive the caps about with the drum 3|.

The contact of the caps with the skirt of the from the drum by the blademember 33 (Figure 6), which has its inner edge closely adjacent a pin 82extending through apertures in a bifurcated bracket 83. Oneend of thepin 82 is held against rotation in the bracket by means of a cotter keyor the like indicated at 84, the other end of the pin 82 being headed asshown at 85.

A coil spring 88 surrounds the pin 82, one end of the spring beingoffset to extend into one of a number of sockets 81, and the other endof the spring being offset to extend through an aperture in the head 85of pin 82. The tensioning of the idler rolls 88 will be obvious from theabove described construction. It is found desirable to have the rolls 88under sufficient tension to normally hold the inner run of band 38 inthe position shown in solid lines in Figure 9,' with the result thatwhen a cap passes opposite one of the rolls 98, it will of course movethe roll somewhat to the left of the position shown in Figure 9.

The upper portion of the belt or band 35 moves about a grooved idlerroller 98 (Figures 10 and 11) journalled on a stud 9| secured to thecasing of the selector or guiding mechanism 48, roller 98, like roller13, being of a height substantially corresponding to the diameter of thecap, withthe groove which receives the belt or band 36 intermediate ofits height. An idler roller 92 is positioned opposite grooved roller 98,this arrangement insuring that a cap will be firmly held in a verticalplane just prior to the moment it leaves the conveyor 35.

the periphery of the drum. Since the caps are moving at high speed, theywill slide outwardly and downwardly in the chute 34 as indicated inFigure 5. A top guide finger 18 illustrated in Figure 5 forms the upperwall of the chute 34 andprojects sufficiently into the hopper 38 toguide caps into the chute. A closure 1| (Figure 6) is pivotallysupported upon the hopper 38 opposite the stripper'blade member 33 andthe finger 18 topermit access to these elements in the event that thecaps should become jammed adjacent the same.

As bestshown in Figure 5, the lower and outer two chutes, one of therolls, designated by the As best indicated in Figures 10 andv 11, the

I article contacting or counting wheel 31 liesgin 92'. Wheel 31 isfixedto a shaft 95 rotatable in a tubular housing 96 extending from and fixedto the casing of counting mechanism 38'and, as shown in Figure 16, thewheel 31 is provided with a numberof pockets 91 in its periphery, eachof such shape'as to closely engage the periphery of a cap moved beneaththe same; Thus, each cap moved beneath the wheel 31 by the belt or band36 and the rolls 98 and 92 will cause the wheel 31 to rotate apredetermined distance. A collar 98 (Figure 11) is keyed to shaft 95beyond the end of the tubular housing 96, collar 98 being provided onits outer surface with a plurality of sockets 99 aligned with thepockets 91 of counter wheel 31, these sockets being adapted to beengaged by a spring pressed ball I" mounted in a bracket IOI fixed tothe end of housing 98. The purpose of this arrangement is to prevent anyover-travel of the counting wheel 31;

A substantially fiat spring I02 (Figure 10) positioned opposite belt itbears upon each cap as the latter moves beneath the counting wheel I! tofurther insure that the caps are held firmly in a vertical position atsuch time.

The counting mechanism Referring to Figures 10 to 15, the counting wheelshaft 95 extends into the housing I05 of the counting mechanism 98 andhas a pinion I06 fixed adjacent its inner end to drive a reducing geartrain generally indicated by the numeral I01. Through this train ofgearing, rotation is imparted to a shaft I08 centrally located withinthe housing I 05.

The cam structure 39 is'adapted to be rotated with the shaft I08 througha clutch element generally indicated at I09 in Figure 12 and com prisingthe following structure: Shaft I0! is of reduced diameter at its outerportion as indicated at H0 and an inclined shoulder III is thus providedon the shaft. A collar H2 surrounds the reduced portion of shaft I 06,the inner end of collar H2 being inclined to seat upon the inclinedsurface III. At its outer end, collar H2 is pinned to a sleeve H3 by apin III which extends through the innermost cam of cam structure 39 andinto a socket in the inner end of sleeve H3. The outermost portion ofthe reduced end H0 of shaft I09 is threaded as indicated at H6 toreceive a collar H'I adapted to be retained upon the threads I I6 by aset screw and disc designated by the numeral H0. The group of discsforming cam structure 39 are secured together in relatively adjustedposition by screws I I9 threaded in the innermost disc and extendinthrough arcuate slots in the remaining discs so that the discs willrotate together and with the collar H2 and sleeve H3. By the aboveconstruction, the discs will be rotated with shaft Ill when sleeve H3and collar H2 are forced inwardly by rotation of collar II! to bring theinner end of collar H2 into frictional contact with the inclinedshoulder III of shaft I 00. In order to free the cam discs from drivingrelationship with shaft I 08, it is only necessary to slightly.

unthread the collar H I so that the collar H2 will be loose fromfrictional engagement with the shoulder. When this has been done, thecounting mechanism may be set to zero position as hereinafter described.

The cam structure 39, rotated by movement of caps or other articlesbeneath the counting wheel 31, serves as a master control to count thecaps or other articles, and to thereby determine when the flow ofarticles to one shipping receptacle shall be discontinued and thearticles flowed to another receptacle. Cam structure 39 also serves tocontrol the periodic shaking of the receptacles so that articles will besettled in the same.

Referring to Figures to 15, in the present embodiment of the invention,the cam structure 39 comprises three circular discs I20, I30 and I",formed of non-conducting material and preferably successively ofslightly smaller diameter, the largest disc I being the innermost disc,and being pinned between the collar II 2 and sleeve II 3 as describedabove. The three discs rotate in a counter-clockwise direction, asindicated by the arrow in Figure 15. The periphery of disc I20 is ofcircular form except for the provision of one depression or irregularityI 2I. The depression I2I is fairly shallow and, at its leading end,includes a step or shoulder I22. The bottom wall I23 of the depressionis flat from the lower end of wall I22 and its opposite end smoothlymerges with the periphery of the disc. Near the trailing end of thelower wall I29 a small notch I24 is provided for a purpose hereinafterset forth.

Cam disc I20 is adapted to control a circuit making device including anouter spring contact I25 and an inner spring contact I26, both of whichare secured to and insulated from the easing I05 and also insulated fromeach other. The inner contact I26 includes a cam following finger I21pivotally attached to its free end and may therefore be regarded as acam follower. The manner of attaching finger I21 to contact I 26, andthe range of movement of the finger with respect to the contact is shownin Figure 150. The outer spring contact I25 is connected by a bolt I20with a rigid cam follower bar I29 also adapted to bear upon theperiphery of cam I20, bar I29 being suitably pivoted as indicated atI29a to a bracket I291) secured to and insulated from the casing I05. Asbest shown in Figure 10, the inner contact and cam follower I26 is ofless width than contact I25 and bar I29 so that bolt I29 may connect thelatter two elements.

When the smooth or circular portion of the cam disc I20 is moving in acounter-clockwise direction beneath the finger I21 of inner contact I26and beneath the cam follower I29 connected to outer contact I25, the twocontacts will be separated due to the fact that the outer contact I25will be raised to the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 15.With the two contacts in this position, when the depression I2I movesbeneath the cam follower bar I29, the bar will drop into the depressionso that the outer contact I25 will be moved to the solid line positionat Figure 15 with the result that the two contacts will be broughttogether as indicated in that figure, thereby closing the circuitcontrolled by the contacts. As diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 2,the contacts I25 and I26 control fiow of current through a lead I to anelectromagnet I5I, the other side of the electromagnet being connectedto a lead I52. Electromagnet I5I, as hereinafter described, forms partof the selector or article guiding mechanism 40, by means of which thefiow of caps or articles to one receptacle may be stopped and fiow to asecond receptacle initiated.

The contacts I25 and I26 will remain in circuit closing position untilthe cam depression I2I has moved beneath the cam following finger I21 ofinner contact I26. At this moment, the finger I21 will drop down intothe leading end of the depression so that contact I26 will drop awayfrom contact I25. Almost immediately thereafter, the trailing end of thedepression I2I will come opposite the end of bar I29 and the latter willbe raised to move the outer contact I 25 to the dotted line position ofFigure 15. Subsequently, the periphery of cam I20 will move beneathfinger I21 so that the latter will be raised to its normal positionindicated in Figure 15, at which time it will of course still beseparated from outer contact I25, due to the fact that the latter is inthe extreme raised position shown in dotted lines.

The cam mechanism 39 of the invention is preferably so designed that thenumber of caps or other articles moving past the counting wheel 91during one complete revolution of the cam disc I20 will be the number ofcaps which will fill a shipping receptacle of the minimum sizecustomarily used for packing caps. For example, if the mechanism is tobe used for handling crown caps, the mechanism will ordinarily be sodesigned that fifty gross caps will move past the counting wheel 91during one revolution of the cam disc I20, because it is customary inthe manufacture of crown caps to use a fifty gross receptacle as thesmallest shipping receptacle or packing box. Hence, when the cam discI20 has made one complete revolution, fifty gross of caps will have beendelivered to one shipping receptacle and the contacts I25 and I26 willthen engage to close the circuit and energize the electromagnet II ofarticle guiding mechanism 40. so that the flow of caps will be divertedfrom one of the delivery spouts (44 and 45) to the other spout. Thus, nomore caps will flow to the shipping receptacle beneath the first spoutand the flow of caps to the shipping receptacle beneath the other spoutwill begin.

It will be also understood from the above that the cam disc I20 thusmeasures the number of caps or other articles delivered to a receptacle.

In order toadjust the mechanism for operation with shipping receptaclesof larger than the minimum size customarily used in the trade, asequence of hold-out mechanism generally indicated by the numeral I53 isassociated with the cam disc I20. Referring to Figures l0, l1 and 15,the hold-out device comprises a wheel I54 which, as best shown in Figure11, is slidably mounted on a fixed stud I55, the inner end of stud I55being secured on a depending bracket I56 supported within the housingI05. Wheel I54 has a hub I51 extending inwardly therefrom, the hub beingprovided with spaced flanges I59 which have an arm of a crank I59extending between the same. Crank I59 is carried by a shaft I60 whichextends outwardly through the casing I05 and has an operatingknob I6Ifixed to its outer end. By this arrangement, manual rotary movement ofoperating knob I6I will adjust the position of wheel I54 longitudinallyof stud I55, thereby varying the space between wheel I54 and cam discI20. Wheel I54 is provided with gear teeth about its periphery to engagegear teeth I62 on the collar II2 associated with the cam structure 39.The teeth I62 extend a suflicient distance along collar II2 to insurethat the wheel I54 and the collar will always be in mesh, regardless ofthe movement of the wheel along the collar.

Wheel I54 is provided with a plurality of pins projecting from one sidethereof toward the cam disc I20, on of these pins being designated bythe numeral I64 and being of substantial length. D'iametrically oppositethe pin I64, a

second pin I65 of similar length also extends toward the cam disc I20.As best shown in Figure 15, a third pin I66 is positioned at a pointwhich is circumferentially equi-distantly spaced between the pins I64and I65 and, as shown in Figure 11, the third trip pin I66 isapproximately only half as long as the trip pins I 64 and I65. No pin isprovided at the point diametrically opposite short pin I66, as indicatedin Figure 15.

Operation of counting mechanism Assuming that the mechanism is to beused for counting crown caps, when the counting mechanism is to delivercapsto receptacles of I64, I65 and I66 will be entirely out of the planeof cam follower I29. Hence, the contacts I25 and I26 will be operatedentirely by cam I20 and may come into engagement with each other aftereach complete revolution of the disc I20.

As may be understood from the above, the purpose of the hold-outmechanism is to prevent the contacts I25 and I26 from coming intoengagement with each other after a complete rotation of the cam disc I20and since, when the wheel I54 of hold-out mechanism I53 is in position Aof Figure 11, none of the three pins of the wheel is adjacent thecontacts I25 and I26, the closing of these contacts will not beprevented.

When the machine is to be used for delivering caps, to a shippingreceptacle of a capacity of one hundred gross, that is, double thenormal minimum, the operating knob I6I must be turned to the one hundredgross reading on dial I6Ib, this turning of the knob causing crank I59to move to dotted line position B of Figure 11, thereby sliding wheelI54 to the position indicated at B. At such position, the longer trippins I64 and I65 will extent beneath the cam following bar I29 of thecircuit controlling mechanism.

After setting the sequence'or hold-out mechanism I53 as described above,it is also necessary to manually operate the mechanism so that at thebeginning of a one hundred gross run, either short pin I66 or the blankor pinless portion of hold-out wheel I54 will be opposite bar I29, andin order that the cam disc 120 will make two complete rotations beforeclosing the circuit through contacts I25 and I26. This resetting isaccomplished by turning the indicator II3a associated with cam disccollar II3 backwardly to a zero position indicated on a dial II3b(Figure 12) on the housing I05. As has been described above, the collarII 3 and the cam disc structure 39 associated therewith may be turnedfree of shaft I09 by loosening the holding nut II! to release the collarII2 from clutching engagement with shaft I08.

With the clutch connection I09 thus released, clockwise rotation of camdisc I20 through the operating knob II3 will cause the disc to turnuntil the abutment I22 at the normally leading end of depression I2Icomes into contact with bar I29. However, it is to be noted thatshoulder I22 cannot come into contact with bar I29 until bar I29 is inthe lowermost position illustrated in Figure 15. In other words, duringa re setting operation preceding a one hundred gross run, if one of thelong pins I64 and I65 carried by the wheel I53 happens to move beneathbar I29, bar I29 will not contact with the shoulder I22 to stop suchrotation of cam I20, and hence the operator can continue rotating thecam disc I20 and; through the same, the hold-out wheel I54, until thetwo have reached the relative position shown in Figure 15, with theblank or pinless portion of wheel I54 uppermost, or such tion, the barI29 will drop into contact with the shoulder I22 of cam disc I20 andstop further resetting rotation. The nut I Il may then be tightened tocause the collar H2 and cam structure 39 to be in clutching engagementwith shaft Ill and operation of the apparatus can be resumed.

When caps or other articles now move beneath the counting wheel 31, thecam I20 will be rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, and during thetime that the bar I29 and finger I21 rest upon the periphery of the cam,their contacts will be out of engagement. Assuming that the countingstarts with the cam discs I39 and hold-out wheel I54 in the relativeposition shown in Figure 15, that is, with the pinless portion of wheelI53 beneath or opposite bar I29, the hold out wheel I54 is so gearedwith respect to the collar II2 of disc I20 that at the time that thedepression I2I of cam disc I20 comes beneath the bar I29, the pin I65 ofwheel I54 (moving in a clockwise direction) also will be directlybeneath the.

bar, thereby holding the bar raised so that the contact I25 will bemaintained in the dotted line position shown in Figure 15. Hence, thetwo contacts I25 and I26 will not come into engagement with each otherafter this single revolution of the cam disc I20, and during whichrevolution fifty gross caps will have been delivered to a containerbeneath one of the spouts 44 and 45. The cam disc I20 will thereforecontinue and, with fifty gross additional caps passing counting wheel31, will make a second revolution. At the completion of this revolutionthe portion of wheel I54 bearing short pin I63 will be beneath bar I29,and since the pin I66 is too short to project beneath bar I29, thelatter will drop into the depression I2I, so as to bring its contact I25into engagement with contact I26 as shown in Figure 15. The engagementof the contacts will energize electromagnet I5I of the selector orarticle guiding mechanism 40 so that the flow of caps will be divertedfrom the spout to which they have been fiowing, and will flow throughthe other spout to the receptacle beheath the same.

When it is desired to set the machine to deliver caps to an even largerpacking receptacle, for example, two hundred gross, knob IBi is turnedto position pointer I 6Ia at the two hundred gross mark, thereby movingcrank I59 to the solid line position of Figure 11. This action willslide holdout wheel I54 to its solid line position of Figure ll. Afterthis adjustment, cam disc I20 must be unclutched from shaft I08 andre-set by rotation. It will be noted that in re-setting for a twohundred gross run, the necessary clockwise re-setting rotation of camdisc I20 will only be stopped when the cam disk I20 and the holdoutwheel I53 are in the relative position shown in Figure 15, because thatis the only position in which wheel I54 (with all of its pins in theplane of bar I29) will permit bar I29 to stop re-setting clockwiserotation of cam I20 in a clockwise direction as described above. Hence,when the clutch I09 is re-engaged, and with the counting revolution ofthe cam disc I20 starting with the depression I2I beneath bar I29 asshown in Figure 15, the cam disc I20 will make four complete revolutionswithout the contacts I25 and I26 coming into engagement. Morespecifically, at the end of the first revolution the long trip pin I65of wheel I54 will be uppermost and in contact with bar I23, therebyholding the latter up and out of depression I2I when the latter movesbelow the bar. At the end of the second revolution, the short pin I66will hold the bar I29 raised, and at the end of the third revolution thesecond long pin I64 will be uppermost to hold the bar I29 raised. At theend of the fourth revolution, the wheel I54 will again be in theposition shown in Figure 15, so that no trip pin will be beneath the barto hold the latter raised. As a result, the bar will drop into thedepression I2I when the latter moves beneath the same, and electromagnetI5I will be energized to divert the fiow of caps from one spout to theother.

It will be noted from the description of the resetting operations whichhave been set forth above that the structures of the cam disk I20 andthe hold-out mechanism I53, respectively, are such that prior to runs ofany length, namely, either fifty gross, one hundred gross, or twohundred gross, the re-setting for these runs will automatically bestopped by the cam follower bar I29 at such point that the ensuing runwill be of the proper quantity of articles, even though, in everyre-setting, the relative positions of the two elements may not be thesame.

The cams I30 and I (Figure 15) control the actuation of the oscillatoryplatforms 46 upon which the shipping receptacles are supported, the camsperforming this action by directly controlling the engagement of twospring cam followers I3! and I, which respectively carry electricalcontacts I3Ia and I4Ia. Both followers are secured, by an insulatingmounting, to the housing I05, and both followers have cam engagingfingers of the type shown in Figure 15c pivotally mounted at their freeends. The finger I32 of follower I3I bears upon the periphery of .camI30 and the finger I42 of contact I4I bears upon the periphery of camI40. It will be noted that in the present embodiment, the cam I40 is ofslightly smaller diameter than cam I30 so that the contact I4Ia offollower MI is positioned closer to the axis of the cams than is contactI3I. As shown in Figure 11, follower I3I is sufficiently broad tooverlap follower I4I so that the two may' have their contacts inalignment.

Cam I30 is provided with a. plurality of depressions I33, each having asharp drop or shoulder I34 at its leading end. Cam disc I40 has a likenumber of depressions I43 spaced thereabout, each depression including adrop or shoulder I44 at its leading end. It will be noted that thedepressions I43 of cam disc I40 are positioned behind or in trailingrelation to the depressions I33 of cam disc I30.

In the operation of cam discs I30 and I40 and the followers I3I and HIcontrolled thereby, the two cam discs will of course rotate with camdisc I20. During the greater part of the rotation of cams I30 and I40,the fingers I32 and I42 of the followers will bear upon the circularperiphery of their respective cams as shown in Figure 15a, and duringsuch time, the contacts I3Ia and I4Ia will be held out of engagement.However, when the depressions I33 and I43 come adjacent the two contactfingers, the depression I33 of cam I30 controlling finger I32 will movebeneath that finger just prior to the time that depression I43 movesbeneath finger I42 as shown in Figure 15b. As a result, contact I3Iawill move into engagement with contact I4 Ia and will remain in suchposition until the leading and sharply dropped end of depression I43comes beneath finger I42. During the time that the two contacts are thusin engagement, they will close the circuit diagrammatically shown inFigure 2 and which extends through a rotary contact I49 in articledelivery mechanism 40 to one or the other of the shaking mechanisms 46so that the one of the shaking mechanisms which is at that moment incircuit with the contacts I3I and I through contact I48 will be actuatedto shake the receptacle supported by the same. This receptacle will bethe one to which caps are being delivered through one of thespouts 44and 45. and the caps in the receptacle will thus be settled to properlypacked condition.

It will be noted from Figure that contacts I3Ia and la are out ofengagement when the cam disc I is in the zero position of that figure.These two contacts will remain out of. engagement for a substantialrotation of the cam discs I80 and I40 and will then be successivelybrought into contact several times during the remainder of the time thatthe cams are making aslngle revolution. Thus the packing receptacle willbe shaken a number of times during each rotation of the cam structure39. Because of the fact that the cam discs I30and I40 are adjustablysecured together by the screws II9 extending through arcuate slotstherein, the position of the two cams with respect to each other may bevaried to either lengthen or shorten the period of shaking action.

During the reverse or clockwise rotation ofthe cam structure 39 to resetcam I20 to a zero position as has been heretofore discussed, the fingersI32 and I42 will be struck by the drops or shoulders I34 and I44,respectively, of the corresponding cam discs. Because of the pivotalmounting of the fingers upon their contacts, the fingers may move to thepositions shown in Figure 15 when this occurs. In order to restore thefingers to their normal positions shown in Figure 15a, the surfaces ofthe depressions I33 and I43 are. provided near their normally trailingends with intermediate its ends upon the shaft I11. At its opposite end,arm I82 carries a pawl I83 controlled by a leaf spring I84. A coilspring I85 serves to normally hold the armature I80 in its outer orright-hand position, one end of the spring being secured to the casingI13 and the other end being connected-to the outer end of the armatureI80. The pawl I83 engages a ratchet .wheel m fixed to the shaft I11. Bythis arrangement, when the electromagnet I5I is energized due to theengagement of contacts I and I26 of the registering mechanism as showninFigure 15, the pawl carrying arm I82 will be swung in acounterclockwise direction and the pawl I83 will rotate the ratchetwheel I86 and also the shaft I11, the degree of rotation imparted to theshaft being only sufficient to bring the next curve or phase of thegrooves I18 of cams I16 into engagement with the arms I14 so that theguide plates I10 will be swung from one extreme position to the other. &

As has been explained above, the electromagnet I5I is only energizedwhen a number of caps or other articles corresponding to the capacity ofa packing receptacle has passed beneath the counting wheel 31. Theenergization of electromagnet I5I is only momentary and as soon as it isdeenergized the spring I85 will draw the armature I80 outwardly or tothe right so that' the pawl I83 will ride over the ratchet wheel I86 ina clockwise direction. As shown in Fig- I ure 13, in order to preventover-travel of the notches I and I45. When resetting has been" completedand the cam structure is again normally operating and therefore rotatingin .a counter-clockwise direction, the fingers I32 and I42 may swing tonormal position by the drag imposed thereon by'the cam discs, but ifsuch drag does not restore them to normal position, the contact of a camfinger in the dotted line position of Figure 15 with one of the notchesI35 or I will cause the finger to be swung to a nor mal position. Thefinger I21 of contact I26 controlled by cam I20 may also be swung by theshoulder I22 of depression I2I, and will be restored to normal positionby notch I24 in the same manner as described above.

The article guiding mechanism thrown upwardly. The plates I10 are fixedon vertically extending'shafts I12 journaled in the upper portion of.the casing I 13 of the article guiding mechanism. Therlower end of eachshaft I12 has a crank finger I14 secured thereto as shown in Figures 16and i7, which finger has a substantially ball shaped end projecting intoa sinusoidal groove I15 cut in the periphery of a cam I16. The two camsI16 are fixed to a horizontal shaft I11 journaled in the side walls ofthe casing I13. Step-by-step rotation of the shaft I11 by the mechanismhereinafter-deshaft I11, a notched wheel I90 is fixed to the shaft I11,the notches I9I of the wheel being,

adapted to be engaged by a spring pressed ball I82 carried in anoverhanging portion of the casing I13. The notches I9I are so spacedthat the shaft I11 will be stopped at proper points in its rotation. Tofurther insure that the shaft I11 will not over-travel, a stop pawl I94is pivoted to the selector housing as indicated at I95, this pawl beingadapted to engage a second ratchet wheel I66 facing in the oppositedirection from the actuating pawl I83. The stop pawl I84 is positionedin the path of movement of the armature link I8I so that it will be heldout of engagement with the ratchet wheel I96 as shown in Figure 18during the time that the armature is in its normal outward position.When the armature I is drawn into the solenoid to thereby move the linkill to the left, pawl I94 will be swung inwardly due to pressure exertedthereon by a flat spring I98 and will engage a tooth of the ratchetwheel I96.

In order to accurately limit the outward movement exerted upon thearmature I80 by the coil spring I86, a set screw 200 is mounted in thecasing I12 with its inner end opposite the path to which caps are beingdirected will be the only one of the two platforms to be vibrated. Asbest indicated in Figures 14 and 17 and diagrammatically shown at Figure2, a sleeve 205 of insulating material is secured to shaft I11 and ametal sleeve 205 surrounds or overlies sleeve 205,

sleeve 208 having portions thereof cut away as indicated at 201, thesecut away portions being of such shape that while one fixed contact 203will always be in engagement with metal sleeve 206, it will beimpossible for two other fixed contacts 203a and 2081) to both be incontact with metal sleeve 208 at the same moment. That is, when one ofthe two contacts 208a and 20812 is bearing on metal sleeve 206, theother of these two contacts will be opposite a cut-out portion or thatsleeve and hence will be bearing on insulating sleeve 205. In this way,sleeve 208 will bridge fixed contacts 208 and 208a and will alternatelybridge fixed contacts 208 and 20%.

As diagrammatically shown in Figure 2, the contact 208 is connected tothe contact I of the counting mechanism by a lead 2 l and since contacti3! of the counting mechanism is connected to one side of a source leadI50, the momentary engagements of contacts I4! and I will place contact208 in direct circuit with the source of current. The contact 208a isconnected by a lead 2l3 with the solenoid 2l4 of the shaking mechanism48. At the time that the cap guiding element 4i is in position to directcaps to a receptacle on the platform corresponding to the shakingcylinder 48, contact 208a will be in engagement with metal contactsleeve 206. Since contact 208 is always bearing on the sleeve, thecircuit from the lead i58 will then be completed through sleeve 206,contact 2880., lead 2i3, solenoid 2|4 and lead 2i5 to the other sourcelead I52. As a result, when the contacts i3i and Hi become engaged byrotation of the cams I30 and I40, solenoid 2M will be energized toactuate the shaking cylinder Contact 20317 communicates through a lead2i8 with one side of the solenoid 2i5, which controls shaking cylinder48a. When the cap guiding element 4% is positioned to direct caps to thepacking receptacle corresponding to shaking cylinder 48a, a portion ofsleeve 206 will be opposite the contact 2082) and since contact 208 isalso in contact with sleeve 208, when the contacts i3| and Hi are movedinto engagement by rotation of cams I30 and M0, the solenoid 2i5 whichactuates cylinder 48a will be energized.

The shaking mechanism The solenoids 2M and 2i5 are of identicalconstruction, each solenoid generally comprising, as illustrated inFigure 22, a coil 220 and an armature 22 i, the armature being providedat its lower end with a needle valve 223 adapted to seat in the upperend of a valve passage 224 opening to an outlet port 225. The upper endof passage 224 opens to a chamber 226 having an inlet port 221 incommunication therewith. When coil 220 is deenergized, the needle valve223 will seat in the port 224 by its own weight, thereby cutting oficommunication between the inlet port 221, which communicates through aline 228 with a source of compressed air, and the outlet port 225,which, in the case of solenoid 2i4, communicates with the shakingcylinder 48 by a line 228a. The

outlet port 225 of solenoid 2i5 communicates with the shaking cylinder48a through a line 228D.

The shaking cylinders 48 and 4811 are of identical construction, eachcylinder including a piston chamber 230 which is pivotally supported asindicated at 23! by trunnions 232. A piston 41 is mounted forreciprocation in the chamber 230, the piston 41 being fixed to a pistonrod 234 which has its lower portion extending down through a packed borein the lower wall of the piston chamber to be pivotally connected asindicated at 235 to one end of the corresponding shaking platform 46.The upper portion of the piston rod 234 extends through a packed bore inthe upper end wall of piston chamber 230, the guided mounting of pistonrod 234 in both the upper and lower end walls of the piston chamberinsuring that the piston rod will move rectilinearly with respect to thechamber.

The reciprocation of piston 233 within the piston chamber 230 to effectoscillation of the corresponding platform 48 is eil'ected by actuationof a slide valve 231 moving in a valve chamber 239 which extendslongitudinally of the cylinder 48 and communicates with the upper end ofthe piston chamber through a port 233 and with the lower end of thepiston chamber through a port 240. The air inlet line 228a communicateswith valve chamber 233 intermediate the ends of the latter.

Valve 231 has a groove 2 extending longitudinally of the same, whichgroove is always in communication with the inlet pipe 228. Adjacent itsupper end, valve 231 is reduced to form a transverse groove 242 and asimilar groove 243 is provided adjacent its lower end. The upper end ofvalve 231 is cut away as indicated at 244, this cut-away portion 244being constantly open to the atmosphere and being intermittentlypositioned opposite the upper piston chamber port 239. Just below thelower valve groove, 243, another groove 245 is provided in the valve231, this groove being long enough to extend out of the valve chamber238 and thereby adapted to intermittently place the piston chamber port240 in communication with the atmosphere.

Valve 231 includes at its lower end an extension or rod 231a whichprojects entireiy out of the valve chamber and carries a friction device246 which moves between plates 241 depending from the cylinderstructure.

The friction device 246 comprises two friction shoes 248 held in abracket 248 fixed to the sides of valve rod 231a by welding as shown at249a in Figure 21; A spring 250 extends through apertures 25l in thebrackets and valve rod to force the friction shoes apart and to maintainthem in close contact with the plates 241. This arrangement insures thatthe valve will remain in the vertical position to which it is moved bythe receptacle or container supporting platform 48, as hereafterdescribed, and against both the ac-- tion of gravity and the pressure ofthe fluid moving through the valve.

The lower end of bracket 249 includes lateral flanges 252 and theextreme lower end of valve rod 231a is provided with laterally extendingflanges 253 positioned in the path of movement of arms 254 on the nearend of the corresponding shaking platform 48.

The operation of either cylinder 48 or 48a is as follows:

When the valve 231 is in the lowered position shown in Figure 20,compressed air will enter through line 228a and flow downwardly throughgrooves 2 and 243 to enter the piston chamber port 240, thereby forcingthe piston 41 upwardly to swing the near end of the correspondingshaking platform upwardly. During such movement of the piston, the upperpiston chamber port 239 is in communication with the atmosphere throughvalve port 244, the upper transverse groove 242 of valve 231 being belowand out of communication with upper piston port 233. When the near endof the platform 46 swings upwardly, the upper surface of the arms 264will strike against the lower surfaces of the flanges 252 on bracket243, thereby moving the valve rod and valve upwardly so that the uppertransverse groove 242 of the valve will be opposite the upper pistonchamber port 233 while the groove 246 of valve 231 will move oppositethe lower piston chamber port 246 to place the latter in communicationwith the atmosphere. As a result. compressed air will enter the upperportion of the piston chamber to drive the piston downwardly and whenthe arms 264 of platform 46 strike the flanges 262 at the lower end ofthe bracket 243, the valve will be returned to the position of Fi ure20.

The pivotal mounting of the cylinders 46 and 48a on their trunnions 232will permit the pistons to swing somewhat with the movement of theplatform. The air inlet connections 226a. and 228b are either flexiblehose or include a joint adjacent the cylinders 48 and 46a to permitswinging of the cylinders.

The platforms 46 are both of identical construction, each platform beingpivotally sup-. ported by pins 266a extending into trunnions 260 and theplatforms being positioned alongside each other as shown in Figure 1 sothat one platform will be beneath the spout 44 and the other beneath thespout 45. The pivot pins 266a are fixed to their platforms in suchposition that each platform is slightly elf-balance, thereby insuringthat at the conclusion of any shaking movement of a platform, the latterwill always move to an inclined position and hence its valve 231 will bein either extreme upward or downward position. This arrangement will ofcourse prevent a valve 231 from stopping in such position as to closeboth of the ports 233 and 246.

In order that packing receptacles of various sizes will be securelycentered and retained on the platforms during their oscillation orshaking, each platform includes a base plate 26l having bars 262 weldedto its upper surface adjacent .the side edges thereof and, at its innerend, a

cross bar 263 of the same height as the bars 262. As indicated inFigures 19 and 20, plates 262a and 263a overlie the bars 262 and 263 tobuild up a substantially high edge or wall about the edges of the plate26L Within each corner of the framing edge thus formed is positioned aright angled bracket 264, brackets 264 being of less height than theframing edge.

As shown in the right-hand portion of Figure l, the above arrangementenables various sizes of boxes to be securely held on the oscillatoryplatforms. For example, a box of relatively small capacity and ofsubstantially square outline such as indicated at R. may be positionedbetween the side elements 262 of the framing edge, with its front andrear corners in contact with the faces 264a of the right angled members264. Also, a box of substantially similar capacity but of oblong outlinemay be positioned entirely within the right angled members 264, asindicated by the dot and dash lines R. A box of somewhat larger outlineindicated at R can be seated upon the right angled members with its sidewalls in contact with the inner surfaces of the side bars 262 and itsinner end in contact with the end bar 263. In order to further hold aboxof this size in position, blocks 266 each having a plate 266:: weldedthereto to make them of the same height as the plates 262a are providedat the forward ends of the side bars. A still larger receptacle,indicated at R, can be seated on the upper surfaces of the framingwalls. In order to hold such a box more secure, right angled elements268 are provided on the upper surface of the framing wall at the rearcorners thereof and strips 263 are provided along the side edges of theframing walls at the front ends thereof.

Rubber blocks 216 may be secured to the floor beneath the ends of theshaking platforms to absorb vibration.

A general description of the operation of the entire apparatus disclosedherein has been set forth in the opening portion of this specification.and the specific operation of each mechanism has been set forth inconnection with the description of the construction of each mechanism.

It will be obvious that the entire apparatus may be used for handlingvarious types of articles,.and also that the mechanisms and devicesdisclosed herein need not be used only with each other but may be usedfor various purposes, either alone, or as portions of other apparatus.

Subject matter disclosed but not claimed herein is claimed in mydivisional application for Article shaking mechanism, filed May 8, 1942,Serial No. 442,279.

It will be further understood that the invention is not limited to thedetails of construction shown in the drawings and that the phraseologyemployed in the specification is for the purpose of description and notof limitation.

I claim:

1. In combination, an article contacting member, an element to controlthe path of articles after movement past said member, a rotatable shaftto which said member is secured, acam driven from said shaft, a gearoperatively connected in driving relationship to said shaft, a circuitcontrolling device engaging said cam for normal operation by the latter,operating means for said element in circuit with said device, and meanson said gear to periodically hold said device out of engagement withsaid cam so that an increased number of articles may move past saidmember before the position of said element is varied.

2. In combination, an article contacting member, an element to controlthe path of articles after movement past said member, a rotatable shaftto which said member is secured, a cam driven from said shaft, asequence member operating in timed relation to said cam, a circuitcontrolling device engaging said cam for normal operation by the latter,operating means for said path controlling element in circuit with saiddevice, said sequence member having a plurality of pin elements ofunequal length thereon adapted to contact with said circuit controllingdevice to prevent operation of the latter by said cam, the relativetiming of said sequence member and said cam being such that anirregularity of said cam and a pin on said member may be in alignment oneach cycle of said cam, and means to adjust the position of saidsequence member with respect to said circuit controlling device so thatthe periods at which a cam irregularity and a pin member will coincidemay be varied.

3. In combination, an article contacting member, an element to controlthe path of articles after movement past said member, a rotatable shaftto which said member is secured, a cam driven from said shaft, said camincluding an irregularity in its cam surface, a pair of cam followersbearing on said surface, each of said followers carrying a contact, therespective contacts being so arranged that they will be out ofengagement with each other when both of said followers are bearing onthe normal operating surface of said cam, the irregularity in theoperating surface of said cam being of such outline that when one ofsaid followers engages the same, its contact will engage the othercontact, operating means for said path controlling element in circuitwith said contacts, and means associated with said cam to hold one ofsaid followers out of engagement therewith during a selected number ofmovements of the cam irregularity beneath said follower. 1

4. In combination, an article contacting member. an element to controlthe path of articles after movement past said member, a rotatable shaftto which said member is secured, a cam driven from said shaft, said camhaving a depression in its periphery, a pair of cam followers bearing onthe periphery of said cam, each of said followers carrying a contact,the contact of one of said followers being spaced further from the axisof said cam than the other contact, the depression in said cam beingsufficiently deep to cause said further contact to come into engagementwith the other contact when its follower moves into the cam depression,operating means for said path controlling element in circuit with saidcontacts, and means associated with said cam to hold said furthestfollower out of said depression during a selected number of movements ofthe cam depression beneath said follower.

5. The combination in an article conveyor system, of an article countingmeans, an article guiding member, and means to actuate said guidingmember from said counting means including a circuit controlling deviceperiodically actuated by said counting means, an electro-motivemechanism in circuit with said device, and a rotary cam operativelyconnected to said article guiding member to control the position of thelatter, said electro-motive mechanism having a step-by-step drivingconnection with said rotary cam to drive the latter.

6. In combination, a rotatably mounted article contacting member, arotatable cam element adapted to be driven by said member, means tocontrol the path of the articles after they have actuated said articlecontacting member, a follower for said cam operatively connected to saidpath controlling means to control the operation of the latter from saidcam element, rotary holdout means mounted on a fixed axis parallel tothe axis of said cam element and driven from said article contactingmember to hold said cam follower away from said cam element for aselected number of rotations of said cam element, said cam element andsaid hold-out means being arranged to'be re-set to a zero setting beforeruns of different numbers of articles by reverse rotation of said camelement, said-cam follower serving as a zero position stop for suchreverse rotation.

7. In combination, an article contacting member, a guide element tocontrol the path of articles after movement past said member, a rotaryelement operated by said member, contacts operated by said rotaryelement, an electrically operated prime mover in circuit with saidcontacts and adapted to vary the position of said guide element whensaid contacts are operated to engaged position by said member, androtary means driven by said article contacting member and mountedindependently of said rotary element to selectively hold said contactsout of engagement.

8. In combination, an article contacting memher, an element to controlthe path of articles after movement past said member, a rotatable shaftto which said member is secured, a cam driven from said shaft, a circuitcontrolling device engaging said cam for normal operation by the latter,operating means for said element in circuit with said device, and cammeans independent of said first cam and carried by a shaft driven fromsaid first shaft to periodically hold said device out of engagement withsaid cam so that an increased number of articles may move past saidmember before the position of said element is varied.

9. In combination, an article contacting member, a guide element tocontrol the path of articles after movement past said member, a rotaryelement operated by said member, means operated by said rotary elementto vary the position of said guide element when a given number ofarticles have moved past said article contacting member, and a secondrotary element rotated by said article contacting member simultaneouslywith said first rotary element to vary the cycle of operation of saidfirst rotary element so that an increased number of articles may movepast said article contacting member before the position of said guideelement is varied, said two rotary elements being movable about fixedand respectively parallel axes.

EIBE A. WILCKENS.

